Did you survive Black Friday, aka the day in which no game was played in the Chess World Championship match? It may have been good for at least 7% of the Norwegians to have a day off to get some sleep.

@kristolo: “Yesterday 7% of the Norwegian population watched almost seven hours of chess. Yes, seven.”

Not everybody is excited about the match, though: @memesupporter: “watching fucking chess world championship with dad what did magnus carlsen do to this country”.

Many people follow the match live on TV (mainly in Norway, obviously) or the Internet, but there is an old-fashioned way to follow the games, which is still popular. Tell me all about it @christophAzone: “Spannender geht’s kaum: Schach auf Videotext.”

Teletext or Videotext is still popular in many European countries. From Wikipedia:“Teletext is a means of sending text and simple geometric shapes to a properly equipped television screen by use of one of the “vertical blanking interval” lines that together form the dark band dividing pictures horizontally on the television screen.

In The Netherlands, you can follow big events like the Tata Steel Chess Tournament live on “Teletekst” as it is called. Every chess journalist who visits Wijk aan Zee knows Richard de Weger, who has his own corner in the press room, where he takes care of move updates and writes round reports, exclusively for Teletekst.

Have a look on the (Dutch) website Teletekst and search for page 691 , 692 and 693 for reports, standings and the games of the world championship.

A few years ago I had an interview with the tournament director of the Tata Steel Chess tournament, Jeroen van den Berg @jvdbergchess about chess & modern technology. When I asked him for his most-used app on his phone, he answered: “The Teletekst app!”

Game 11

Marthine Marthinsen us getting ready for the game: @marthinmclaren: “Testing testing: VGTV on 55″.NRK2 on 15,6″.Twitter on 5,7″.Back-up in the toilet 17,3″.Prosecco in the fridge.All is good “.

Some people are ready for the game, but are not allowed to watch: @ldnhal:“Chess is even more boring than football”. My better half. No chance of watching Carlsen-Karjakin on telly or MOTD”.

@gmplines has similar problems: “Only a couple more days and I will no longer need to fend off “you love chess more than me” accusations”.

@britt_dj has a tweet for Sergey: “Don’t stare into the abyss tonight Sergey. The abyss is a cocky bastard. Hasn’t lost a staring contest yet”.

@joshfriedel: “Note on match dynamics: Imagine how different the outlook of the match would be had they drawn all ten games.”

And what do we expect today? @Rohan_rk7: “Expecting a sicilian defense. Not another Ruy Lopez , For god’s sake”.

And what did we get on board? Right.

@birdingvicar: “There was a time at school when the only opening people knew was RuyLopez. Seems it’s the same with Carlsen-Karjakin”. @Al_pal_Borealis:“Can we please impose a temporary ban on Spanish opening?”

@britt_dj: “This looks like a Spanish version of the Grand Prix attack. Weird hybrid.”

@acerthecatrun: “Seems like everyone on twitter would draw this. Either colour, either opponent. Eyes closed.”

Let’s ask the Twitter grandmasters then, shall we?

@anishgiri:“Feels like Black got a better version of what he is supposed to get from this variation. If 18…e5!? I put $ on Carlsen”.

@Jonathan_Rowson: Fascinated by the positional physics behind Magnus’s decision to play ..c3 & ..d5. Strategy is about energy, not just mass.”

But the game was not really exciting, @chessknights: “With every move game is heading towards a draw. Unless one of them does an unforced error”.

@telegraphchess:“Carlsen smoothly emerged from what seemed a slightly worse position made easy draw c3! and d5! v well timed score 5.5-5.5”.

Teymur Rajabov had a good tweet after the game ended in a draw: @rajachess:“Good Good! Good game , good draw, good match situation for both, good perspectives, good show. Good”

@EuropeEchecs: “Draw is good because I have «Mr. Robot» episode 11 and 12 to see!”

@rajachess: “I think Sergey is ok with a draw and he will seek his chances in Carlsen’s last white game. Both shaky, both in bad shape will be exciting!”

The last classical game will be on Monday, because there is another rest day on Sunday: @CazHansen:” It is indeed odd that none of the three weekends could contain games on both days. For the 12th game, an extra day off is OK”.

One last tweet: @theosladechess: “Scrolling through all the tweets containing #CarlsenKarjakin makes me realize just how many people are following this incredible match.”

Let’s continue with the tweets of game 10. You can read the first selection here.

So let’s check what happened after the opening, what do you think @bobbyfiske : “Ah, wife finally went to bed. Now its beer & chess time!”

Cheers!

The 10th game was certainly not the most exciting one and there was enough time to other things: @ebarfoed: The good thing about the game until now…I am getting a lot of work done!

@cyberella:“I was hoping for a Rocky movie today but this is more Bridget Jones’ Diary :/”

However, strange things happened….

@RobertRis: “19.Bxe6 is just a tactical blunder. Instead 19.Nd2 looks very pleasant for White. Karjakin one step closer to WC title!”

@anishgiri called it a night: “Red move. Im outta here, the (other) trolls will do the rest!”

But Sergey obviously missed the best move: @LawrenceTrentIM: “Surprise in NY about Karjakin’s 20…d5. Did he overlook the forced draw with Nxf2… Game on now!”

@brigosling: Why did Sergey not take the forced draw after 20… Nxf2, 21 Kg2 Nh4! (?) This may be the decision that decides the fate of the match.

Switch off your engines!

And there was some advice for the armchair grandmasters from a number of real masters and grandmasters;

(Screenshot from the film “Computer Chess” – 2013)

@GMJtis: “People be paying WAY too much attention to engines today. Humans are playing for the highest stakes. Context, please”.

GM Daniel Gormally, @elgransenor1: “Turn off your engines everyone, look at the position, consider the two players. This is 1-0″

@RobertRis: “Well, actually time to switch off the engines and think by yourself. Tactics are over and White is clearly better!”

And yes, @silviodanailov is also a Grandmaster:” I am very sorry for the Norwegian fans here in NYC but knowing well the Crimea iron soldier he won’t lose this game. Anyway dreaming is free?”

We will see what happens, Silvio! A long endgame coming up, but not everybody wanted to see the grinding live: Silvio’s special friend @nigelshortchess: “Down to 5 hrs sleep max. & dropping, so I shall say goodnight to all you beautiful people. Prediction – win for the champ”.

@johnchess: “Sensation as world chess champion wins a game of chess #aboutbloodytime”

The American top players Caruana and Nakamura tweeted:

@fabianocaruana: “Karjakin gave Carlsen a plump, juicy Thanksgiving turkey today.” @GMHikaru: “Overall, it looked like we saw a high quality WCH game, although this apparent draw with Nxf2 and Nh4 kind of ruins it a little bit.”

You can watch the video of the press conference at your leisure, and here are a few tweets after the show was over. Let’s go to our Norwegian correspondent @TarjeiJS, who presents us this example from the press conference: “Are you very disappointed?” Karjakin: “No.” “Why?” “Because…” “I am just thinking about chess and not stupid questions”.

@chessmateandy: “Chess media are like the people knocking on the glass in zoos,thinking the animals are there purely for their entertainment”.

@gatorchess:“No matter who is the world champion, Nastia Karlovich must not run another press conference. It’s painful to watch her.” @CazHansen: “I think it is a matter of her having done it before. However, on previous occasions, it was equally painful to watch.”

@knightofgood: “Magnus is a bigger jerk than Garry and close to Bobby – have some class buddy”.

Calm down people, we have a the rest day on Friday, Black Friday, to be precise. Time to go shopping!

Game number 10 in New York already, a very critical game, but why? I found the answer:

@fireball29de: “Today is really critical, because tomorrow the emotional biorhythms of BOTH players cross zero in opposite directions!!”

Calm down and have some turkey. To celebrate the public holiday “Thanksgiving” in the US, let’s kick off with a few chess related #Thanksgiving tweets:

@jtwinner: “Just asked someone what his Thanksgiving plans are & he said, “Nothing. I’m just going to play chess on the computer.” #happythanksgiving”.

@cameronhigley: “Judson and I just finished an exhilarating game of chess. I was victorious. Thanksgiving has been great!”

@paullbreenturner: “Having a bad day? It could be worse, imagine if you were a Turkey!”

@kenleyhargettJr: “Family +Turkey + Football= Thanksgiving”.

But today we will change that definition, ok? Replace football by chess and off we go to the tweets of game 10!

@chuckdavie:“Treat yourself this thanksgiving by watching Carlsen-Karjakin. The world’s best chess players.”

@Gurdonark:“American Thanksgiving–sports on television, the Carlsen- Karjakin game on the laptop..”

@ckloote: “Heading out soon for the family Thanksgiving. Hoping the politics stay in the realm of the sane. If not there’s always Carlsen – Karjakin.”

That’s the spirit, young man!

Tell us more about the match, @TarjeiJS: “Carlsen – Karjakin is an event hosted in NY organized by Russians with all Russian sponsors. Even the vodka in the VIP area is Russian.”

Two questions: how is the turkey in the VIP lounge and tell me something about the opening today? Perhaps Jonathan Bryant with the intriguing Twitter handle @Berlin_Endgame has the answer:” A Berlin – but not a proper one :-(“. @ejhchess replied: “When will these supergrandmasters accept that 4…d6 is the right move”.

Well, why don’t we ask a super GM? @anishgiri: “Similar concept to game 2 from Sochi match. Worse version of a known position, but still playable. Nice, desperate idea”.

@erwinlami:“I like white after 13.g3 Nh3 14.Kg2. Magnus really getting the type of game he was looking for”.

@ginger_gm: “It seems that Sergei has proven that 1 e4 e5 is basically a dead draw with best play.”

Not all strong players are impressed:

U-14 world champ Vidit Gujrathi aka @viditchess from Nasik, India: “Everyone is praising Carlsen’s opening choice. Looks harmless and more like a bluff. Not impressed!”

@Cazhansen: “Never liked this variation very much for White; the f4-knight always bothered me. Don’t know how much they have prepared”.

If you are confused by the various evaluations of the grandmasters you are not alone: @Berlin_Endgame: “Following strong players on twitter is confusing.”

@nigelshortchess:“We are 25 moves from the time-control. Long thinks. No clear liquidating plans in sight. Magnus can be content”.

Yes, but I wonder how Magnus really feels. @hhajanika:You are running out of time but you have momentum and u know he’ll make you run for it is how Carlsen is feeling right now.”

Thanks. Let’s go back to the biorhythm: @fireball29de: Magnus had a really bad emotional (biorhythm) time since 11/11! Sergey had excactly the opposite! Until tomorrow…

Sergey took some time for his 15th move! @jaspervanpelt: “Is Sergey still alive? 34 min for c6″. Or as @kejritrolls puts it drastically: “30 mins for a pussy move”.

@elgransenor1:“I predict that Karjakin will have a brain freeze, choke and hand Carlsen a win in time trouble”.

@anishgiri:“Sergei fans among my crew are rather concerned about his time management today. Can’t be a good sign.”

@AMartinChess: “If the truth be known ,Game Ten is deadly dull. Might warm up, might not. The symmetrical pawn structure is the killer.”

I started this special Thanksgiving edition with a biorhythm tweet, now let’s close part 1 of the Game 10 section with one more biorhythm tweet:

@Fireball29de: Off course Sergey is emotionally in balance, he leads in WCS and his emotional biorhythm is up since 11/11. But I like him!

After the flood of tweets about game 8 on Wednesday, the chess twittersphere calmed down a bit. What will we remember most from game 8? The fact that Magnus did not show up at the press conference? Maybe. What we will remember is The Chess Quote Of The Year.

@rewbeniofrota: “Karjakin has, at least, granted a world champion’s quotation “It is much better to play well than to play white”.

In game 8, Sergey has to play with the white pieces, and he has to play well! Twitter is excited and the predictions are aways fun to read:

@Britt_dj: “I think it’s back to e4 with an anti Marshall system. Would be overjoyed if Team Karjakin proved me wrong.”

Indian writer Jaideep Unudurti is not impressed with the work of Team Karjakin: @unudurti: “Did Sergey blow all his cash on fast cars & black caviar and didn’t actually hire any seconds?”

There is hope for Magnus, Erle Marki Hansen has the stats for you:

@sjakkerle: “Stats for Carlsen-fans: Subsequent a loss, C has the last 2yrs struck back with a win 7/10 times – 5 of those with black!”

@sosocullen: “Magnus is World Chess Champ for a reason. Just because he’s 1 game down doesn’t mean it’s over. Next 4 games will be great.”

Teymur Rajabov @rajachess thinks that it will be difficult for Magnus to come back: “Will be very hard for Carlsen, he has no opening advantage, no time advantage and no advantage in calculation, at the moment, nervous as well”.

Official World Chess reporter @kajasnare agrees: “So far Sergey Karjakin is the winner on every level. Preparations, points, mentality, public apparance. 3/4 is suprising”

Prophet of the day was Dutch IM @RobertRis: “Expecting a solid draw…No reason for Magnus to push hard yet. Predicting another Ruy Lopez.”

@CazHansen: “I’m somewhat surprised by the choice of line by the Carlsen Team. It can rapidly get dull and boring with a likely draw.”

@anishgiri: “I guess Carlsen’s plan is to go home today as early as possible and go all-in again tomorrow.”

@cyberella:“I can’t believe we’re at move 20 after only 30 minutes in! It might all be over in an hour. Then again, it’s all theory.” Grandmaster Simon Williams @ginger_gm: “This looks more like a memory test then a game. Modern chess, don’t we just love it”.

@joshfriedel:The Archangelsk leads to fascinating positions, but computers beat them to a pulp. Hope there is some tension still left.

@nigelshortchess: It is one of the great ironies of chess that the sharpest variations are often the most boring”.

@cyberella: “Magnus has been thinking for what now, half an hour? That move better be stellar!”

Not a stellar move, just the solid 23…Rfd8. What do you think @fabionacaruana: “This variation won’t offer Carlsen many (or any) winning chances, but he should be able to hold it without many problems”.

elgransenor1: “Depressing how many engine moves they are playing. Chess is getting slowly strangled and turned into a soulless activity”.

The “hidden matchpoint” (Svidler on Chess24)

@rajachess: “There is a good chance Carlsen will be 0-2 after today”

@kimiyasajjadi: “Guess all the chess players in the world Are holding their breaths? will Karjakin find Qb3!!”

Maybe he is pondering over another move? Let’s ask @erwinlami: “39.Bxf7+!? Kxf7 40.Qc4 Kg7 41.d5! is also not exactly a picknick. Huge moment in the match!”

@skepticalsports: “If Karjakin wins this game, he knows this match is essentially over.” Does he not know this is 2016??”

@GMAlexColovic: “A bold prediction – Carlsen saves this, which lifts his spirits, starts to play excellently and wins the match!”

@frank_snyckers:“If Carlsen pulls this out of the fire, by no means inconceivable, then Qb3 will haunt Karjakin for the rest of his life”

And Sergey played 39.Bxf7…..

@reachvsara: “Finally a sac in dis world chesschampionship! In footsteps of Kasparov & Vishy. Lets continue to have faith in humanity”.

@jumarear:” I think everyone saw a winning position after Bxf7 but no one actually saw the winning combination”.

@jonathan_rowson: “I feel sorry and sad to say this, but after all that build up and excitement we may now have a complete anti-climax.”

@cyberella , are you still awake? “I keep on staying up too late to watch games that lead nowhere. Wrap it up already, guys! Some of us have to work tomorrow”.

“Following Carlsen – Karjakin is becoming a serious obstacle to being able to get out of bed in the morning.”, according to @wordssavant.

And finally, the inevitable happened: TarjeiJS: “OFFICIAL, Karjakin-Carlsen drawn. Magnus keeps his chances alive exactly 2 years after he retained his WC title in Sochi”.

And of course, many armchair psychologists had to tweet something as well: @mmehdikhani70: “Another psychological victory for Sergey. He pressed Magnus hard and made him sweat for his draw”. @psedik: “I don’t think this is a psychological win for Sergey. Magnus defended almost lost position.”

@redfoks10: “Instead of saying Carlsen is not on his best, maybe it’s time to say that Karjakin is better than we all thought”.

What to expect for game 10? eli_1985_mor: “Tomorrow we will see either the best game or the worst game of the match in terms of quality”.

One last tweet:

@ramnarasimhan: “Only 3 games to go. Magnus down by 1, plays with White pieces in Game 10. The whole chess world is expecting a raging bull.”

Game eight really was a shocker and it was certainly a challenge for your blogger to pick the right tweets to create a comprehensive twitter report. I ended the previous blog post with some Tarjei statistics after the last move was played, but the tweetflood after the game was over did not stop. I spotted many remarkable and emotional post-game tweets. Here is a selection.

@Mark_A_Hooper: “You know when couch-potatoes yell at football players on tv? The chess commentary on Twitter makes that look rational.”

The press conference scandal

Magnus failed to attend the press conference after the game. You can watch the post-game videos on several websites to see what happened to conceive an opinion. Twitter was not amused:

@Sandra_Hohmann:”Magnus doesn’t attend press conf. I understand he’s disappointed and maybe angry with himself, but that’s unprofessional”. @poisondPwnPress: “Carlsen storming off without talking to the press is poor form. Unfortunate, but I can understand emotions running high.”

@nf3nc6: “MC with his behaviour, disregard for others & arrogance, probably does not deserve to hold such a Classy Title as Chess WC”.

@reachvsara:“WCh ’12 Moscow. Vishy lost game 7. He stayed back for Press Conf. Answered more questions than oppo. Just saying”. @sirgeorgethomas: “Anand had to suffer at the press conference in a dignified silence after losing but Magnus is too busy crying”.

@Eilert:“Until today I was proud to be Norwegian in the world of chess. Now I feel the urge to apologize to every other nation”.

@sandeeproy1: “With Magnus, are we going back to the old, snooty Grandmaster types?”

But there was some support on Twitter for the reigning champion: @wallaceChessLtd.:“Magnus Carlsen is only human & we are often limited by too many rules. Conferences and press can wait, emotions come first.”

@kajasnare:“You should know @MagnusCarlsen waited at the press conference for several minutes before he left because it took a long time for it to start“.

Anyway, not appearing at the press conference will cost Magnus some pocket money: @TarjeiJS:“So Carlsen’s failure to appear at the press conference will likely lead to a fine of 60K or 40K Euro depending on who wins”.

@EuropeEchecs: “We talk much more about the press conference because Carlsen did not stay. FIDE should pay Carlsen for it :)”

After the game and some sleep, most tweeters calmed down a bit and evaluated the new situation: @MarkTWIC: “Thinking about it overnight game 8 was likely entirely the kind of emotionally sapping contest Carlsen had in mind. Just not losing it.”

@MartinChess:“Let’s face it: the result yesterday was the best thing that could happen to the match”.

@GMJtis: “Magnus has the best sporting mentality I have ever seen, absolute world class. He will find his best now.”

@brigosling: “The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat”.

The last tweet goes out to @normanwhyse who knows why it will be a difficult task for Magnus: “Think Karjakin either has a great psychologist on his team or a witch.”

I think we all cannot hear the horrible ‘d-word’ anymore, but @TarjeiJS has some stats for you:“Carlsen’s 8 straight draws (incl Olympiad G11) his longest strreak since 09. Record is 9 draws in a row in Wijk aan Zee ’09”.

In my “behind-the-screen” world championship blog https://mateinmoscow.wordpress.com/, about the World Chess Championship 2012 in Moscow between Vishy Anand and Boris Gelfand, I posted a number of cartoons by German artist Fränk Stiefel. After the seven-game-draw snoozefest in New York, I remembered that I used this cartoon:

(cartoon by Fränk Stiefel)

I think, the cartoon speaks for itself.

Without further ado, let’s go to the tweets of game 8! The chess world expects, no needs a decisive game and the commentators obviously do not want to analyse another draw. @robertris: “Can’t wait for G8! Tension grows which will not help quality of the games, but expecting a decisive result!”

@GMJtis:“Lot of people (me included) expecting real action today in Carlsen- Karjakin. Think we’re feeling the law of averages, but still…”

@pietropilechi: “After 7 games we understood that they do know how to draw. Now let’s see if one of them knows how to win”.

Can you win a game when you use an opening system from the 19th century?

@dgriffinchess: “The system with 5.b3 has been played in a World Championship before. Gunsberg-Steinitz, 6th match-game, New York(!) 1890!”

@MarkTWIC: I said I felt something may happen today but not in this way. Carlsen’s opening hasn’t worked and he may be digging a hole for himself now.

@jonathan_rowson: “I wonder if Sergey realises he can win the match yet? If he plays 19…Bc6 now it’s a sign that he probably hasn’t.”

Time trouble

However, in time trouble, what started as a boring game suddenly became interesting because of some inaccurate moves by both players, and a tweet and a screenshot of the evaluation by @MadsStostad makes things clear: “Heeeeeerrregud #hjerteattakk”.

I don’t think you need Google Translate for the Norwegian word “hjerteattakk”.

@CraigoryC: “After a comedy of errors it seems we have arrived at an equal position once again. #DefWasNotABoringDraw”.

@CazHansen:Wow! What a game. Two big blunders in time trouble today. The games may end in draws, but they’re exciting”.

It was amusing to read two completely different opinions about the move c5 by Carlsen:

GM Daniel Gormally: @elgransenor1: “If Karjakin can’t win after the awful c5? Then when can he ever win?”

And what do you think, GM @jonathan_rowson: “Funny how the idea of ‘blunder’ has changed. Magnus’s c4-c5 probably saved his skin in practice, whatever the engines say.”

Exciting? Come on, you see these time trouble scrambles in the club every week, right? We are just happy finally seeing some fireworks after seven dull games.

@heastoida: “Nothing special, that’s what happens in my games pretty much all the time”.

And the game seemed to end in a draw soon, but let’s ask two experts: Malcom Pein @telegraphchess: “There comes a moment in WCC matches when it’s all about the nerves and not the position on the board. Its arrived”. @nigelshortchess:“OK, I understand this is supposedly a draw, but I would be very nervous with White”.

And ist is interesting to read the opinion of Top GM Teymur Rajabov: @rajachess: “Well,he (MC) is playing really bad chess here. And he is going to pay huge price for it in this match,if he keeps on going like this.”

@ChrisBirdIA: “Carlsen seems to be doing his darndest to lose this game. What the heck is going on today?”

@nigelshortchess:“If you keep playing with fire, eventually you get burned”.

@jonathan_rowson: “52…a2! Black wins. A thoroughly impressive game. I admire Magnus all the more. The will to win is also the will to lose.”

@havanavo: “Think it’s safe to say Carlsen is far from his best. But we should not overlook this was very impressive from Karjakin”.

@danielkingchess: “Carlsen forgot that Karjakin could play for a win. But this time, after some provocation, Karjakin remembered he could.”

And one last tweet for today. I started with a tweet by @TarjeiJS with some statistics, we end this one with more stats: “Karjakin-Carlsen 1-0. The Russian leads 4,5-3,5 after game 8. This is Carlsen’s first loss in 28 games.”

Half time at the world championship in New York. Let’s start all over again in a 6-game-match for the title.

@samualmaxton: “Excited to travel to NYC tomorrow for the match. I was worried that halfway through it would already be decided. Wrong!”

I hope Sam has a ticket: @stefanloeffler:“Tickets for Carlsen Karjakin sold out until game ten and eventually until the world championship is decided.”

Rest day

There was a rest day on Saturday in New York, but there was plenty of chess to follow all around the world: the The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk, the World Senior Championship in Marianske Lazne, a spa town in the west of the Czech Republic near the German border or the German Bundesliga with many strong 2700+ players. What about the Indian Championship in Lucknow?

@nigelshortchess:”Utter chaos in the Indian Championship, with 5 of the 14 participants withdrawing due to the lack of a venue”.

Our man in India, @reachsvara, who has ears and eyes everywhere, is not surprised: “Searching for Toilet in 1991, Searching for Food in 1998, Searching for Tiger (Yes, there was a REAL tiger around!) in 2006… :-)”

Let’s move a couple of time zones to New York. Press officer Anastasiya Karlovich took the opportunity to go to the movies: @nastialkarlovich: “Magnus” in NYC cinema – could not miss it))! Special thanks to filmmaker @Benjamin_Ree”.

Other officials and players played a couple of chess games on the rest day: @chess24com“: Hard not to feel a bit sad for all the chess hustlers in New York parks now getting hustled by visiting professionals :)”

Now let’s go to the tweets of game number seven.

@rationalcolonel: “It has been an engrossing match so far with some tremendous games, but what the match needs now is a decisive result in Game 7.”

Do we really need a decisive result? A draw can be exciting as well, what do you think, @tiltchess:“I love watching quality chess and someone winning doesn’t necessarily make it more exciting for me. #keepthedrawscoming”.

No 1.e4 today, no Ruy Lopez, but something completely different! Stuart Conquest aka @stuthefox: “It’s difficult to explain to a non-chessplayer that sometimes the very first move can be exciting!”

@robertris: Who would have guessed it would be a Chebanenko Slav today? 🙂 @unudurti: “PH Nielsen did an insane amount of work for Anand with the Slav, so this makes sense…sort of.”

Top GM Teymur Rajabov is not impressed with the opening of the game@rajachess: “Could be just dried out at home, with no blah-blah-blah needed.”

What do you think, @TarjeiJS:“I doubt Carlsen was anywhere close to getting a heart attack by Karjakin’s opening preparation today either”. @Silvio Danailov : “It’s amazing how poor is the opening preparation of Sergey Karyakin with white. What the hell is doing his team of seconds”.

@GiddisnSteve:It’s really great to see Ulfie playing Salo Flohr in a World Championship match. Oh, wait a moment…

Exciment on Twitter: Magnus drops a pawn!

@nigelshortchess: I just knew Magnus was going to play 19…Bf6! He is heading for a crappy but (probably) drawn ending a pawn down

@nf3nc6: “Carlsen is getting ready for a Magnus grind now. Just that he will be on the receiving end today..”

@GMlars: “Strange play from both players. From slightly better to slightly worse for Carlsen. Should still be drawish, though”.

@tylervsnyc: Let’s see if Carlsen can pull a Karjakin…

Yes he can! Another draw was agreed: @robertris: “Possibly the worst game so far!”

@sjakkerle: Carlsen hasnt had a row of draws this long since 09. Karjakin: July. No question for whom this is most frustrating.”

@danielrensch received a message from Hikaru Nakamura: “Who knows, maybe they’ll draw all 12 games and kill classical chess once and for all.” -@GMHikaru texting me. Had to share.”

@joshfriedel:“Carlsen seems to lack his usual precision in this match, which makes me realize just how special a quality it was.”

Perhaps the next world championship will be more exciting. What’s your take, @olympiuurcan: “On the positive side, Karjakin is offering us a pretty good preview of a potential Carlsen v Giri world title match”.

One last tweet for today: what do you think of a future match , anishgiri?” I should stop tweeting”.

I found this video on You Tube about the match in 1995, 21 years ago. It was broadcast on Eurosport! Please listen to the (German) comments by GM Eric Lobron. Great to see the games and the footage again, fantastic to see the high-tech 3D board.

The armchair grandmasters are not amused about the draws: @andeesprout:“Chess has become joke over the past week. 5 remis in 5 straight matches”. @itsjulian23: “Man, Carlsen Karjakin is getting more draws than your average Miracle player on Day1 of a GP.”

@kiniagi: “I hate draws, i won’t watch tomorrow”.

That’s a pity, because some strange things happened in New York on Thursday. Anything special in game 5, Venkat Saravanan? @reachsvsara:“I saw Tigran Petrosian all in flesh yesterday, on the board of Carlsen Karjakin when the Black King ran from g8 to c8”.

Game 6

Let’s go to game 6. is it going to be a long game again? @GMjtis: “Espen says the Norwegian PM has texted and hopes for a shorter game, the government is frazzled after so many long nights.”

@davidhowellGM: “Looking forward to the World Championship match tonight. I predict a safe solid draw after a couple of strange games.”

We saw another Ruy Lopez in game 6. What can you tell us about the opening, @nigelshortchess: “Magnus Carlsen has played the Marshall Gambit – named after the great American, James Marshall Hendrix #voodoochile”.

@sinfuz is happy: “I love the smell of gambit in the morning”.

@MarkTWIC: A very sharp Marshall Gambit in the Ruy Lopez. Quite a rare line but high level. Game could burn out quite quickly.

@susanpolgar:” I have a feeling that this game may be short because w/ correct play, many ways for forced repetition of moves”.

GM Robert Hess shares some background information with the chess twitter-sphere: @gmrlh: “I helped GM Alex Onischuk prepare a similar line against Karjakin back in 2010. Maybe Magnus Carlsen learned from us? “

@Cazhansen: “It seems like both players are fully booked from home in this line. But the question is why Karjakin allowed this.”

The boys moved fast, maybe too fast, even for @anishgiri:”Things moving at such a quick pace, we might not make it to my daily midnight wisdom.. #toostrongtoofast”.

@reachvsara: “We are not watching a game at Carlsen – Karjakin, but a memory contest of Line Moves from two sets of Silicons”.

@terribleteacher:“Dead draw in Carlsen – Karjakin game 6. Too much computer analisis has made chess dull.”

@jonathan_rowson: “I’m afraid it’s going to be a fairly dull draw again. Not so much because of opposite bishops, but the lack of pawn breaks.”

@nigelshortchess: “Don’t complain. The first K-K match was arse-numbingly tedious for months on end. This is better “.

However, the chess twitter community was not amused. A selection of tweets: @danielrensch: “How can I describe how un-enthused I am right now about that last Carlsen – Karjakin game? Karjakin needs to try harder with White. Period.” @NorwayChess: “If not exactly short and sweet, then at least short. Enjoy the rest of your Friday out there”. @amartinchess: “A bit of imagination from either player would do the match a lot of good.”

@diabloroma:” Another draw – the 6th in a row. Thunder and lightning, it’s not really exciting…”

@itsJulian23: “Why do Carlsen and Karjakin keep me up until 3am during weekdays, but when it’s the weekend they finish after like 1.5h?!”

@sjakkerle, tweeting from Norway has seen quality games: “Lack of goals – lots of quality. To complain about it is like preferring third division soccer ending 8-6 over GER-ARG 0-0.”

And one last, slightly puzzling tweet from German scholastic chess activist and journalist @stefanloeffer, who covers the match for the German quality paper “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “Playing 24 moves of preparation, kicking the door, loosing the grip on the position, @MagnusCarlsen wrecked his image in less than 24 hours.”

I hope that his articles are better than his tweets.

Enjoy the rest day. @TarjeiJS: “No Carlsen – Karjakin today, what in the world am I supposed to spend my time doing in this city? #NewYork”

Wednesday has been a quiet rest day on Twitter. After the long draws in game 3 and 4, the chess Twitter-sphere seemed to need a short break from the board and the screen after 247 moves in 4 games.

@chessgamescom: “247 moves played in the first four games of #CarlsenKarjakin; only 4 shy of the record 251 moves from the Botvinnik-Smyslov rematch in 1958.”

@shaxmatist2000: “Is a 94 move game not a record in modern times? For players of this caliber, it is tantamount to playing 10 sets of tennis.”

Let’s ask an expert: @DanielKingChess:“Nowhere near a record! Korchnoi-Karpov 1978 had a 124 move draw. Carlsen-Anand 2014, game 7, was 122 moves.”

@chessninja: The campaign to avoid short draws has been pretty successful with move minimums. With Carlsen-Karjakin, move maximums perhaps also needed.

What do you think of the match so far, @russell_francis: “3 things about the World Chess Championship, 1 guy’s a Trump guy, 1 guy’s a Putin guy and the Berlin Wall has been erected.”

You have probably seen the analyses of the games on various websites and in videos. @fabianocaruana found something: “So 42…Bd5 43.g3 g4!! probably would have won for Carlsen in the 4th game, but not easy to find and convert the advantage”.

Another top 10 player showed this variation @anishgiri: “45…Be6! 46.Nf2 Bd7! -+ while after 45…f4?=. Will most likely be published in NIC, if my bad jokes pass the censorship.”

Before we go to game 5, let’s say happy birthday to GM Michael Adams, who turns 45 today. @garylanechess: “Is Michael Adams on team Carlsen again? I say yes.”

What do we want to see in game 5? Some grandmaster advice from Nikita Vitiugov, @n_vitiugov: “Eagerly waiting for the first blood in New-York. Hope for a good old piece blunder. Basically, chess is all about that.”

@johnchess:“Looking forward to the next instalment of Magnus Grindstone vs Sergei Groveljin this evening”.

What’s on the menu tonight, Johathan Tisdall? @GMJtis: “Have a feeling for something Italian today. Maybe even Sicilian.” @nigelshortchess: “Southern European anyway. How about the Hellenic Counter-Gambit?

And what did we get? Italian! @nigelshortchess: 21st century homo chessicus has concluded that white should put his bishop on c4, attacking f7 – as they already understood 500 years ago.

Not everybody was happy, though: @GiddinsSteve:“Everyone excited by a d3-Giuoco. I guess to a starving man, even beans on toast is a feast.”

@JonathanRowson: Whether it’s an Italian or a slow Lopez, I think even top GMs are basically confused until something actually *happens*.

After that move, the players took some time to ponder over their next moves, giving the spectators online some time to do other (better?) things:

@twistsler: Okay then. I have been away for over an hour and only missed 5 turns.” A more precise tweet camefrom @schlaura_schi:“The good thing about Chess is, that you can take a shower without missing a thing.”

Playing the move 19…Qh4 (or not), that was the question.

@ginger_gm:If Sergey Karyakin is going to win this match he needs to start playing moves like 19…Qh4!? added by some psychological advice from @jonathan_rowson: Yes, and it’s not just the move, but *how* you play it. Speed, sound, smoothness, eye brow altitude – it all matters.”

@anishgiri: “Folks shouting Qh4! but having made a couple of hundred passive moves in a row this seems rather unorthodox for Karjakin”.

Of course, Karjakin played 19….Qh4. @Nigelshortchess:” My hunch is that Magnus missed that after 19…Qh4, 20.e6 is not possible”.

Surprising plot twists in game 5

Sergey seemed to have a slight advantage, but that plus score slipped away: @GMjtis:“Minimalism from Karjakin again. Back to our normal programming. Magnus can now plonk around & try to magic up some chances”. @joshfriedel:”Karjakin’s Bxc5 from game 5 looks an awfully lot like Bxc4 from game 4.”

@GMLars: 19 Bxc4 in G4 was chess error; 20…Bxc5 in G5 not bad chess-wise, but psychological concession by Karjakin. 2 result game.

So, there are good chances for Magnus to win the game then? Not really:

@Terendle: “Really odd play by Magnus. It almost looks like he’s forgotten that it’s possible for him to lose this game…”@GMjtis: “I really really really really don’t like the way Carlsen has played 95% of this game. Begging for trouble.”

@duhke64: “And now Houdini demonstrates the art of vacating a square for piece. Position is looking grim for MC”.

However….@Cazhansen: Bd5 right away? It seems like Karjakin just dropped the ball on the 10-yard line while running towards a touchdown.”

Many viewers wanted to go to bed, but were a obviously afraid to wake up with an unexpected result. @joseaf_PT asked: This is a draw, right? If i go to sleep, i’m not going to get another surprise like Trump,right?

You can go to sleep, another draw was agreed, although Jonathan expected a different result.

@jonathanrowson: “Bit confused. Went to bed. Carlsen -Karjakin suggested Karjakin might be winning.Open computer. No sign of that whatsoever. Draw.”

Perhaps @team_bleezy has an answer? Karjakin has played defensively every match. As they say, “scared money don’t make money.” Missed opportunity with Black.

One last tweet for today,: @danielkingchess: “A strange game. Throughout it seemed that Carlsen forgot that Karjakin could play for a win. And Karjakin forgot too.”

It is interesting to see that there are various ways to write “Karjakin”.

@wpgChicago: Hey everyone, can we keep the conversation in the one language that God intended for chess please? … Esperanto! 🙂

Game 4

Le’t move on to game four: What can we expect today, another endgame perhaps? @tiltchess: “The best technical finisher vs. the best technical defender, a matchup destined for some epic endgames :)”

@europeechecs: “Karjakin has to do something today. If he goes on playing only in his own half, Carlsen will eventually score.”

@Kingsheadchess: “Carlsen will be frustrated after missing a probable win last night. Might this be Karjakin’s chance to capitalise?”

All set for game four, folks? Everybody sittin’ comfortable, engines running, cool drinks in the fridge? Oh before I forget, what’s for dinner, @pookita? “Have to prepare dinner BEFORE the start of the game, just in case it’s another epic barn-burner.”

Fried-Liver Attack, perhaps? Well….no.

Are you ready, David? @DavidHowellGM: “Now a dilemma: England football match, chess world championship, or Djokovic tennis match? Any advice?!”

@baariish: “O…. Ruy Lopez!! Ufff….. Hoping to see some other stuff in opening… in coming rounds!”

@GMJtis:” It might not be the Najdorf, but definitely a statement that Magnus is not choosing the Berlin Wall as black every game.”

@nigelshortchess:“In such positions, with White I always feel I have no advantage, but with Black that I can’t equalise”.

Many observers noted that Sergey played pretty fast in the opening: @GMJtis: The Magnus fan in me is really creeped out by how quickly Karjakin is playing. @slavenzivkovic: “It’s interesting to notice that so far in the match Karjakin plays significantly faster in the opening.”

Of course, the reason is simple: @Omojolow4life: “Why is Sergey Karyakin playing with such speed. Maybe he has a date and does not want the game to prolong like yesterday. “

@nigelshortchess: “18.Bxh6 is the more chaotic option. 18.Ng4 was sensible, but less sexy :)” In other words: @Emmbld: “Yeeees Bxh6 was played, let the blood bath begin! I love those Spanish games”.

@AnishGiri (tweeting from Georgia) keeps his cool: “Very classy response by MC with Nc4!,Qc6!. No mate in sight and thus No to panic in Norway and Yes to sleep in Georgia.”

And Anish, who obviously went to sleep, missed the next crucial move (19. Bxc4) by Sergey, heavily criticized by many experts on Twitter.

@RobertRis: “Karjakin’s 19.Bxc4 is a clear sign that Magnus is the huge favorite to win the match! What a terrible positional mistake! ” @nigelshortchess: “Quite frankly, this is just very poor play by Sergey. It is easy to sit here & criticise, but it is true”. @FabianoCaruana:“The bishop pair, the center and the terminally weak b2-pawn. This is bad news for Sergey”.

Will we see a decisive game tonight? Let’s ask @lawrencetrentIM:“Magnus just has so many trumps in this position. So many he’ll build a wall, deport some illegal pieces and maybe grab Sergey by the #####”.

@Alex_Remaster:“Karjakin is going to be tortured again. But dont worry, he enjoys it!”

The twitter audience was not to sure about the position, though: @pas_chez_moi: “I’ll not be surprised to wake in the morning to find that this 4th game is another draw.”

And as the game progressed, the experts were not convinced: @GMHikaru: “Somehow I have a feeling that by closing the position with 45…f4 any sort of winning plan became a lot, lot harder.”

GM Elshan Moradiabadi, aka @eli_1985-mor:“I do not know which one was worse: Bxc4 by Karjakin or f4 by Carlsen.”

@tolgausun:“One of Karjakin’s seconds must be Giri 🙂 He finds draw in any given situation”.

@im_pinge: “The computer evaluation in Carlsen Karjakin is as misleading as the polls during the US Presidential election.”

Another long game tonight…..@bobbyfiske:I swore to my wife I’d go to bed before midnight. #02:25AM R4.

@havanavo:” Back to back 6+ hour games where one lapse of concentration is probably fatal. Tell me again how chess is not a sport.”

In the end, another draw was agreed: @am-celis: “Karjakin gets a draw out of nowhere again. Against Carlsen. With a Supermoon”.

Many people only watched the opening, saw the bad move 19.Bxc4 and went to bed. Another draw was certainly not expected by many.

@fennelaurora:“Expected to wake up to a Carlsen win after that early blunder, but Karjakin found another 20 rabbits – impressive!” @tnttoon:”This is the second day in a row I wake up heavily expecting a Carlsen win but finding a draw”. @gxtkjaer:”There’s no way I woke up to a new draw between Carlsen Karjakin. F*ck off.”

Oh, and Anish woke up as well: @AnishGiri:Draw?! As though Magnus’ pre-match remark on Sergei’s amazing defensive skills had started to mess with his own head.

Not onyl Anish Giri praised Karjakin for his defensive skills, other top grandmasters were impressed as well:

@FabianoCaruana: “Honestly impressive defense. Not every day that Carlsen fails to win 2 clearly better positions in a row.” @Eljanov: “I know the feeling:u are in fire, dominating,he looks spent.But small error and he escapes. To do it vs Magnus -top class!”

Not everybody was impressed, though: @ChessKingT: I’m disappointed in today’s game. Not exciting enough. Practically 94 moves of junk. Now the match is tied – 2-2″.

These two tweets are funny: Putin or Trump, that is the question.

@chessgamescom: “BREAKING: Putin just appointed Karjakin new Russian Minister of Defense”.

@vanadis:“Karjakin is now on Trumps list for Secretary of Defence. Nobody will be able to get in”.

What will happen next after the second rest day on Wednesday? Teymur Rajabov your opinion please? @rajachess: “Carlsen did not reach his top form as yet, but I think from games 5 to 8 he will be very dangerous.”

@forwardchess: “Carlsen Karjakin suddenly feels like a Kasparov – Kramnik. I just don’t understand who is playing a Kramnik here though 🙂

@nvmea:“I wished Magnus would win a game mainly so all of those expert predictions of the mental state of both players would stop.”